According to reports, Nate Parker’s “Birth of a Nation” received a “rapturous” standing ovation after its premiere at Sundance earlier this week.
Now, a day later, Parker’s Nat Turner biopic has broken a Sundance sales record by netting $17 million in a deal with Fox Searchlight.
Parker—who quit acting to work on financing the film—wrote, directed and stars in the epic tale about Turner, who led the most successful slave rebellion in American history.
“I made this film for one reason, with the hope of creating change agents. That people can watch this film and be affected,” Parker told the audience at the premiere. “That you can watch this film and see that there were systems that were in place that were corrupt and corrupted people and the legacy of that still lives with us. I just want you, if you are affected and you are so moved, to ask yourself, ‘Are there systems in my life that need attention whether it be racial, gender?’ There are a lot of injustices.”